Bishi Pile Challenge: Challenge response to Deadline and Anger. Minor to Rescue. Wu Fei + Trowa and Zechs for the challenge characters. Word count: 1519

Series: Friends 8/??

Author: Karina

Pairings: Trowa x Quatre, Duo + Zechs

Ratings: M 15[In Australia Rated in the event of bad language and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. That's the way it is.

Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.

Chapter 8

There had been a time when Quatre, like he, feared to sleep. Sleep brought nightmares, memories of times best forgotten, but unforgettable. War had shaped their entire lives, eventually submerging even Quatre into blood and destruction.

Trowa had found no escape from bloody terror filled dreams, even after years of peace. Bloody dreams birthed from his days as a mercenary and leading into the final war. How many times had he watched his mercenary unit die? How many times had he watched himself kill those deemed the enemy; enemy by the simple expedient of their employers naming them the enemy. As a mercenary with no name or as Trowa Barton, possessor of a stolen name, there had been little change in his circumstances. He had killed those who had deserved killing and those who had been innocent of wrong doing, and those deaths haunted him to this day.

Quatre slept like an innocent and he did not understand how.

If anything Quatre had killed more people than he in all his long career of killing. Certainly there had been nights when Quatre would wake screaming, and had taken shelter from imagined ghosts under the bed. The deaths of the colonists he had instigated whilst under the influence of the Zero system were a large part of those nightmares and the guilt his lover carried.

What he did not understand was how, in the last few years, had Quatre found peace within himself?

Peace, an understanding between himself and his dead. What else could explain the absence of nightmares, and the faint smile even now curving full lips?

The sleep of innocents.

//I don't understand you. I have tried, but I never seem able to define exactly who you are.//

It was no nightmare of past killings which had driven him from his bed tonight. He was tired, aching in bone and muscle and desperate to sleep after what could only be described as exceedingly satisfying sex. Quatre was always a new experience in bed, inventive and exceedingly supple, and more than willing to experiment.

No, it was not dreams which called him from his lover's arms, but the need to contact his partners.

They had arranged a deadline and it was approaching, and he was under obligation to contact them. He had come to speak to Quatre over Duo's disappearance while Heero continued to seek out Duo's known haunts. Wu Fei had chosen to remain at Preventer Headquarters whilst awaiting news of the agents nearing the home of Zechs Marquise, and he would be awaiting reports from his partners. There should be news of Marquise by now.

//Marquise, Peacecraft, Wind… The man has more names than a stray dog adopted by a dozen gutter brats.//

Trowa did not know what to make of the man, but he was far from pleased to be caught up in what he hoped was a hoax. Given Marquise was thought to be dead by the general population, this anonymous tip the man was a victim of kidnapping and possible murder was cause for concern.

Personally Trowa did not care if he lived or died. The disturbing truth was someone knew Marquise was alive, and that was a breach in security. Une did not want the entire ESUN knowing he still breathed, be it under the name Marquise, Peacecraft or Wind. He worked as a secured agent for Preventer, excluded from the general staff of the organization, called in if a situation was classed critical and the attending agent was considered expendable in pursuit of peace.

Trowa was more than surprised to learn he was not considered expendable, and a government pardon had been granted when he joined Preventers. He had been aware a deal was done to keep the Gundam Pilots from being prosecuted for war crimes, despite their being touted as having saved Earth and the Colonies. Negotiations had been long and delicate, and he suspected a large proportion of the Council of Representatives had well scratched backs by the time the negotiations were finished.

He suspected Lady Une and Relena Darlian, the now Foreign Minister, had done a similar deal to keep the crazed maniac Marquise from being publicly tried and imprisoned. People in high places certainly knew he was alive and well, and he supposed taking on seemingly impossible missions might well be the price for his freedom.

//I wonder if any deals that have been done will continue to stand if he is revealed to the general public as being a rather spry corpse?//

Not that it was any concern of his. It was only Duo 'Idiot' Maxwell who concerned him and his fellow agents. Marquise could burn in hell as far as he was concerned. Checking the time he pulled on a loose pair of track pants and slipped out of the bedroom. Chang would be calling him if he did not call first, and he would prefer Quatre not be disturbed.

Padding barefoot to Quatre's study he settled himself before the vidcom and took the time to indulge in a long and luxurious stretch, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Some days Quatre's enthusiasm in bed wore him out. He never did understand what Quatre ate to give him so much energy after working a full day at that sweat shop he called an office.

Dialling Wu Fei's extension at Preventer Headquarters he was hardly surprised the call was answered on the second ring. Chang would not have been far from the unit.

"Barton. What did Winner have to say?"

Chang was sociable as ever, he mused and inclined his head by way of greeting. "You know as well as I do where Maxwell is."

Dark eyes spat fire and Chang snorted. "Typical. As it happens it may be to our advantage. The agents sent to investigate the residence report no one has been there for at least two days. There was no sign of a struggle, but there is evidence the subject did not depart voluntarily."

"Evidence?"

"The investigation unit found a tranquilizer dart in the sitting room. We might safely assume the subject was tranquilized from a distance before being approached."

"Maxwell took a chopper equipped with survival gear to the given coordinates."

"What does Winner have to say? Is he worried?"

"About Duo? Not at all. His only comment was Duo had needed to go when he did given the conditions. Basically there was a deadline to his departure or he would not have made it to the coordinates before the storm closed off the mountains."

"It makes sense." Chang nodded. "Maxwell may be many things I find distasteful at the best of time, but there is no disputing he is the best pilot of the five of us. I will have a chopper prepared for arctic conditions. It will take an hour or two to arrange."

"Quatre already has a unit prepared for us to use. He said there is no urgency, Duo was settling down to sleep and Quatre is sleeping like a baby, completely unconcerned. Conditions up there are bad. Basically, until they improve, we are locked out of the mountains."

Wu Fei nodded, not inclined to argue. It was foul weather and it would be a long night while they waited to take action. If Maxwell was equipped with survival gear he was as safe in the mountains as it was possible to be.

"Have you heard from Yuy?" Trowa queried.

"He reported in a few minutes before you, and for Yuy he was in a fine temper at finding no sign of Maxwell."

"It's not as though he did not know what Duo was likely to do. He's a loose cannon, we all know that. Did any of us honestly expect him to wait to hear if it was a false alarm?"

"Of course not, but you know Yuy. For someone who rarely showed a hint of emotion during the war he has developed a fine temper."

"I am sure dealing with Relena's security day in, day out, has something to do with that." Wu Fei snorted. "I certainly will not take it on."

"If he thinks Maxwell will agree to join Preventers and chase after the Foreign Minister, he has another think coming. If he wants to play patty cake with the woman he will have to find another body to take his place. Duo won't agree to baby sit the Princess, and neither will I."

Wu Fei pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Play patty cake?" He held up a hand, shaking his head. "No, I don't want to know anything. Yuy will get over his fit of pique in due time. Une has officially assigned this case over to the three of us. Can you check out what equipment Winner has prepared? If it is more advanced than the Preventer gear I can commandeer we will take that, and Winner Enterprises can bill Preventer for its use."

Trowa scowled. "This is an official case now?"

"To be handled with the utmost discretion."

It seemed, even in absentia, Marquise was a pain.

End

Karina Robertson 2007